Gordon Griffith

Gordon S. Griffith (July 4, 1907, Chicago – October 12, 1958) was an American assistant director, film producer, and one of the first child actors in the American movie industry. Griffith worked in the film industry for five decades, acting in over 60 films, and surviving the transition from silent films to talkies—films with sound. During his acting career, he worked with Charlie Chaplin, and was the first actor to portray both Tom Sawyer and Tarzan on film. Griffith was born on July 4, 1907 in Chicago, Illinois to actors Harry Sutherland Griffith and Katherine Kiemar Griffith. He had two siblings, an older sister Gertrude, and a younger brother Graham—also an actor. Griffith was already an experienced actor when, at age seven, he got his first acting role as a regular character in the Little Billy series of films. Mack Sennett of Keystone Studios cast Griffith in many of his slapstick features, where he eventually earned supporting roles in Charlie Chaplin films, including Tillie's Punctured Romance. His big break came with the role of young Tarzan, in the 1918 film Tarzan of the Apes.

Actor